Hilton Long Beach & Executive Meeting Center

Wedding at the Hilton Long Beach (130 people) - 9/26/2009

We just had our wedding at the Hilton Long Beach. Joe D'Aprile is the catering manager there and he was AWESOME!!! Joe was extremely flexible with the type of wedding package we wanted. As a result, we didn't have to spend money on things that were not important to us. For example, we were able to get credit by not having 2 wine bottles at each of the tables, and used those funds for something else. Hilton also had a tasting dinner set up - just for the 2 of us. The food at the tasting was a little better than the actual food served (portions were a bit smaller) - but the food was still good.

Also, the location is awesome - great photo backgrounds. The ceremony on the Lanai is spectactular - the combination of the tall mirrored buildings and the sunset in the background is wonderful. The lobby area and the fountain area downstairs is amazing also.

We didn't have a wedding planner, so Joe stepped in and helped us with the rehearsal as well as some of the basic planning items. Our DJ put together a detailed agenda that the Hilton banquest captain and other vendors used to keep the night moving along.

Joe and his Hilton staff had everything ready by the time the ceremony started. The tables, chairs, linens, water stands, gift tables, cocktail tables - everything. We didn't have to rush through anything. Actually, our officiant didn't show up until 5 minutes before the ceremony, so we were scrambling to find another officiant. I had asked Joe if he could step in and "fake it" so the show could go on... Joe was fully on board and had even started to write out our ceremony!!!! What a guy….

Dinner was served right on time, the cake was beautiful, the food was great, the service was great, and the whole evening went perfectly. Joe even had his staff gather the chairs and linens and had them ready for pick up (we rented these items from another vendor) the following day without charging us. All in all, Joe and Hilton were extremely flexible and they gave us great piece of mind throughout the entire evening and planning process.

Joe - thank you for your hard work and helping us have a wonderful wedding!!!